1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to power and voice/data communication transmission systems for use at or beyond the demarcation point in a residential or business building.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In some conventional telecommunication devices, such as with answering machines, cordless and cord telephones, there are instances where an undesirable plurality of cables connect each of said telecommunication devices for voice/data transmission and electrical power transmission. As an example, elective telephone service features such as Caller ID(trademark) or Call Display(trademark) offered by telephone companies require two cables to be run to certain telephones using this service. The first of said cables carries the voice/data communication transmission, whereas the second of said cables carries power to operate the elective service in the telephone. One such telephone is the Nortel(trademark) made Maestro(trademark) model telephone. Such telephones feature-capable telephones now conventionally require a power supply cable to connect the telephone to a nearby electrical wall outlet via a DC adaptor. In addition to the power supply cable, there is also the traditional voice/data cable that connects the telephone to the telephone jack. Accordingly, there are two cables and one DC power adapter in the set up for each such feature-capable telephone. A similar conventional cabling layout is required for a stand-alone answering machine or a cordless telephone whether or not any elective feature services are available. There are a number of disadvantages that flow from the current conventional setup.
First, having two cables and a DC power adapter results in an undesirably messy, and cumbersome setup at each such conventionally laid telecommunication device location. Second, children have been found to play and tangle themselves in the array of cables that loosely dangle behind each such telecommunication device. The problem escalates when the notion that many homes or businesses have three or more such devices at different locations in their premisesxe2x80x94all requiring the same setup. It is desirable to have a system in which there is a reduction of the number of cables required at each telecommunication device installation.
It is an object of the invention to provide a system in which the layout of the cables required for a telecommunication device such as a feature rich telephone, a cordless telephone (either feature-rich or not) or an answering machine is simple and the limited to one cable per installation that is easily managed.
It is another object of the invention to reduce the number of cables required at a telecommunication device installation.
The invention effectively utilizes the spare unused line that is found in the telephone wiring in a house to distribute power through it. In a first embodiment, the invention comprises an interface (hereinafter referred to as a xe2x80x9cpower input modulexe2x80x9d) in which a single power source feeds power into the unused line at the demarcation point. As a result, the internal telephone wiring running throughout the house is now powered from a single source and the power may be accessed via regular telephone jacks. All that a user needs to do to get power and voice from a telephone jack is to connect a telecommunication device, such as a telephone, to a new combined power-communication cable. The new combined power-communication line makes use of the dual transmissions, namely voice/data communication and power, accessible from the telephone jack. Advantageously, there is only one cable (separated only at a point near the telephone) necessary at each telephone. Moreover, there is no need to have a power transformer at each telephone connected to a power supply outlet. When all devices require the same voltage, only one central power transformer is required (at the demarcation point interface).
In the invention, there is provided a combined power and communication delivery system for installation at or beyond the demarcation point in a residential or business building, said system comprising: a power input module; a plurality of traditional voice/data communication lines, one of said lines being an unused voice or data communication line and being connected to said power input module thereby making said first of said lines a current-carrying line, said plurality of lines terminating at least one female multi-wire telephone jack; and, at least one power-communication cable, said cable characterized by a first end being a male multi-wire plug to releasably engage said female multi-wire telephone jack, a second end partially depending from said first end carrying one or more voice and data communication transmission lines, and a third end partially depending from said first end to transmit current from said current-carrying line.
In another embodiment of the invention, namely in situations where there are different telephones sharing the same voice/data communication line, but requiring different DC voltages, the present invention may be adapted to include a multi-interface power input module to accommodate power for each DC voltage level. In this case, there would be more than one current-carrying line.
In another embodiment of the invention, the combined power-communication cable may include a fourth end also depending from said first end carrying current from said current-carrying line, or a second current-carrying line.
Further features of the invention will be described or will become apparent in the course of the following detailed description.